Conversion and Catastrophe in German-Jewish Émigré Autobiography (German and European Studies #55)
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- Synopsis
- Conversion and Catastrophe in German-Jewish Émigré Autobiography is a collective biography of four German-Jewish converts to Christianity, recounting their spiritual and confessional journeys against the backdrop of the Holocaust and its aftermath. Focusing on personal testimonies that fuse historical trauma and spiritual illumination into one narrative, the book explores how Jewish emigrants interpreted their experiences of persecution and displacement through the hermeneutics of Christian conversion. It draws on autobiographies, novels, religious writings, and newspaper articles as well as unpublished archival materials such as diaries, lecture notes, and private correspondence. The book explores how chosen genres of writing both enabled and hindered self-understanding. It also assesses whether the literary paradigm of Christian conversion, highlighting an individual’s separation from a past sinful self, is suitable for expressing a collective catastrophe. Applying psychoanalysis, disability studies, and autobiographical theory to the life writing of converted Jews, the book offers new avenues for conceptualizing the Jewishness of historical subjects who disavowed their ties to Judaism. Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
- Copyright:
- 2025
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- ISBN-13:
- 9781487557362
- Related ISBNs:
- 9781487557355, 9781487561093, 9781487557348
- Publisher:
- University of Toronto Press
- Date of Addition:
- 12/17/24
- Copyrighted By:
- University of Toronto Press
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.
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